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The goal is to accelerate the work of establishing a national lung cancer screening program.
Lung cancer screening saves many lives. This is confirmed by international studies, including Nelson’s study from the Netherlands and Belgium.
Save hundreds
– It shows we can reduce lung cancer mortality by 26 percent for men and, indeed, up to 50 percent for women, says project manager and chief lung cancer screening physician Haseem Ashraf at Akershus University Hospital.
Ashraf, who is also an associate professor at the University of Oslo, has tried to translate the international experience into Norwegian conditions.
– We estimate that we can save up to 500 patients from death from lung cancer over a three-year period if we establish a national screening program, he says.
SAVE LIVES: Akershus University Hospital’s chief physician and project manager Haseem Ashraf hopes the pilot project will be the start of a national lung cancer screening program. – It will save many lives, he says.
Photo: Margret Helland / NRK
1000 chain smokers
The 8 million that the Cancer Society has put into the pot will bring together 1000 chain smokers of Viken ages 60-79 for the screening program. These will now be selected and offered to participate.
– We know that lung cancer screening saves lives. Now we need to know how to go about setting up a nationwide lung cancer screening program. In short, who should be included in a national program and how it should be implemented in practice, says Secretary General Ingrid Stenstadvold Ross of the Norwegian Cancer Society.
– Must be detected early
The leader of the Lung Cancer Association, Cecilie Bråthen, says what is happening now is fantastic.
– Lung cancer is difficult to detect. When you have symptoms, the cancer has often spread. However, if you detect it early through screening, the chances of a cure are high. Therefore, I look forward to a national screening program. And eventually it must include others besides smokers. One in four people with lung cancer is actually nonsmoker, he says.
Some false findings
Any screening test can lead to overdiagnosis.
– Nelson’s study showed that between 10 and 19 percent were overdiagnosed, but that’s a relatively low number when compared to everyone who was rescued thanks to the evaluation, says Haseem Ashraf.
– Can you explain why many more women than men are saved by this test?
– We do not know. One explanation may still be that many women are affected by lung cancer that grows more slowly than men. Therefore, it is also more suitable to be detected in a screening program.
Delayed investigation
EVALUATION: The Minister of Health and Care Services, Bent Høie, says that the Norwegian Directorate of Health is considering the possibility of establishing a national screening program.
Photo: Willy Hage / NRK
3,351 Norwegians were affected by lung cancer in 2018, according to figures from the Cancer Registry. Around 2,300 die each year as a result of the disease. Lung cancer is therefore the form of cancer that takes the most lives in Norway.
– We are eager to establish a national screening program. The government must speed up, says Ingrid Stenstadvold Ross of the Norwegian Cancer Society.
Conservative Party Minister of Health and Sanitation Bent Høie responds:
– This is a case that is being examined by the Norwegian Health Directorate, but the work has been delayed due to the coronary pandemic.
– But will there eventually be a national screening program?
– I can’t guarantee that. But at least we will implement an evaluation, and that in close collaboration with the Cancer Society.
